


Shifting Balance Point

by KEZZ2



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26565055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KEZZ2/pseuds/KEZZ2
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

Kya froze. Sensing.

Feeling the instant of change.

The balance, shifting.

Twisting energies

flowing around her, through her.

Crashing waves, pain, loss.

“Dad.” She said. Knowing.

The air became still

The earth cracked, jarring, heaving

The hearth fire, subdued.

“It’s too soon, Please Don’t be Gone.”

Across the water.

Dancing, Swirling and leaping.

A new Avatar.

“I love you, daddy.”

Reincarnation.

Reborn to the Water Tribe.

For the World, new hope.

Grief rolled over her,

a tidal wave crashing down.

Tears flowed. Her dad…gone.


	2. Cliff's Edge

Kya felt her old restlessness building. She had been away from the ocean for too long. It was calling her.

The last time she answered that pull it had taken 5 years, and the death of her uncle, before she returned.

She figured her mom understood. She would see her standing on the cliffs edge, gazing out to sea for a few moments before some “crisis” called her attention back to the temple.

She decided to take the edge off, to get a quick fix of sea air before the pull got so intense, she felt she had to leave again.

She heard someone crying as she walked down the path towards the seaside shore. As she turned the last corner, she saw one of the younger female acolytes sitting on a rock outcropping, crying into her hands. Pema, she remembered. One of the first, and youngest recruits when the air temple opened its doors to women for the first time on record.

She remembered hearing Tenzin arguing with Lin about the change. He was so resistant to any change in tradition. But he seemed happy now, at least with that situation.

He and Lin seemed to be on the verge of a fight every time she saw them together, lately. Tenzin seemed to be more and more focused on “preserving the air nation” ever since their father passed. Kya had heard him throwing out words like “lineage, destiny, and survival of the line” during some of their more heated rounds.

Honestly, it made her want to smack him. Her dad never talked like that, at least not when she was with him. She sometimes wondered what he had taught Tenzin, to make him feel the need to repopulate an entire nation of extinct Airbenders.

She wished Lin seemed happier. She wished her friend could see new path without the obligations that always seemed to weigh her down. Between Chief Toph, her wilding sister, and Tenzin, Kya didn’t think Lin ever took a moment to think about her own course. Typical Earthbender, staying on path and just grinding away at any obstacles, instead of finding a way to flow past them.

She knew Lin was focusing on her new role as team leader for the metal-bending squad. And Kya thought she had seen Katara talking with Lin after one of the meetings with the elders of the White Lotus. Kya knew there had been an incident with the young Avatar, a major security breach endangering the young girl. She wondered if Lin was involved in the investigation.

Lin was never one to want to talk about her troubles, though.

Shaking off her thoughts about Lin and her brother, Kya refocused on the women below her on the rocks.

“Pema? Are you okay? Your aura seems muted today, and your crying like you’ve lost someone.”

“Oh, Kya, sorry. I didn’t hear you coming. I’ll…I’ll just…I’ll go.”

“Nonsense. What’s upset you? Not homesick again, I hope.”

“Oh, oh, no. nothing like that. I love it here.”

“Then, what’s wrong, dear? Did someone get hurt or ill? Can I help?

“Oh, No. It silly. Just me being ridiculous.”

“Nonsense. You are far from ridiculous. You most level headed person I know, aside from Tenzin.”

The other woman’s face fell.

“It’s just, well, I found out that a man I’ve loved since I was a child is planning on getting married.”

“Oh. That is hard.”

“And the woman he’s with is all wrong for him. She’s so hard, and unyielding. They fight all the time. She doesn’t even want kids. That’s all he ever talked about, was how much he looked forward to having kids one day, to teach them his family’s traditions and take them traveling to see the world like he did with his dad when he was young.”

“Have you spoken to him? Does he know how you feel?”

“No, and I’m too afraid to tell him. I’d only make a fool of myself. And the woman he’s seeing terrifies me.”

“Oh my. Still, I think, if it was me, I would want to let the person I loved know. It’s worth some embarrassment, if it gives love a chance.”

“They’ve been together for ages. But I don’t think she can make him happy. Not really.”

“I say you should take a chance. What’s the worst that happens? You come back here, return to the Acolytes, and maintain your life of service while he ends up miserable.”

“But what about her?”

“What can she do? I’m not saying you should have an affair or to go behind her back. I’m just saying, let him know how you feel. He can’t choose you, if he doesn’t know there is a choice to make.”

Pema sniffs. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay! Yes! I’ll do that. I’ll ask to talk to Tenzin after the evening meal, before he goes to meditate. She won’t be here today, anyways, the city council sent her to speak with the Kyioshi Warriors about having a division work with the United City metal benders. Commander Beifong won’t be back for at least a week.”

Pema jumps up and runs up the cliff path.

“Thanks, Kya!” she yells back over her shoulder.

“Oh, dear.” Kya says, watching the younger woman race away. “Lin is going to make that poor woman’s life an absolute terror.”


	3. Fault lines

The year had started well for Lin Beifong.

She had been promoted to solo patrol faster than any recruit in her class.

She had just started dating her long-time friend, Tenzin. 

She had found a small apartment she could afford on her rookie salary, so she was able to move out of the Chief's shadow, at least on her off hours.

Her metal bending was getting smoother every day. She figured she could apply for the metal bender squad in the next selection cycle.

She already had plans, designs she worked on in her free time, for improving the cable system, and for installing latch points for them on the multistory buildings in high volume areas.

She was happy. Not just content, or satisfied. Actually happy. She didn't even recognize it until Kya pointed out that a smile looked good on her. That made her smile more, instead of switching to a scowl as she would have done usually.

Honestly, she should have known the universe was going to turn on her.

Maybe she should have checked in with her little sister more often. She knew Su had a history of impulsive decisions, and poor taste in friends, and an almost naïve belief that everyone had good intentions.

But she figured the Chief should be the one to rein in her wild daughter.

Hind sight is 20/20.

Well, hers isn't, not anymore. Not since that day. 

If the Chief hadn't taught her to use seismic sensing when she was younger, she wouldn't even be a cop anymore.

She had been so focused on the squad trials. Training on her own for weeks. Working the trainee cabling through the obstacle course over and over, switching routes, changing angles. making it as challenging as she could in a static environment.

The day of her test, she remembered Suyin had showed up at her apartment, wanting to talk to her about something. Some problem with a friend. She had been focused on the trials, distracted. She remembered telling her she'd see her after the test, that they could talk then. But the other candidates had talked her into going out for drinks to blow off steam. By the time she got back to her apartment, Suyin had left. When she tried to catch up with her the next day, Suyin had dismissed it, saying it didn't matter anymore, she had figured it out.

Shrugging, Lin had let it go. 

It wasn't long before she regretted that decision.

The selection results came back at the end of the week. She had made the elite squad, on her first try, her first year on the force. 

She wanted to celebrate. She took her notification letter to her family home. She was still smiling, grinning at it really, when the door was flung open and Suyin rushed past her.

Before she could even say hi, her sister was leaping into a car that pulled up at the curb.

Sighing, Lin stepped through the door. She found her mom sitting at the kitchen table, scowling. 

"Hey, chief."

"What do you want, dragging yourself back in after all this time."

"I just. I wanted to show you this." She set the letter of acceptance in front of her mother.

"Still blind, here, girlie."

Its...Its from the acceptance board. I passed! I'm joining the…

“Yeah, yeah. Ya made the squad. Bully for you. You think Im out of touch? That I don’t know what’s going on in my house? My Department?”

“What? No. Ma. I just wanted…”

“Go on. Get outta here. Go celebrate with your new friends. Not like you spent much time around here, anyways.”

“Fine. See you later Chief.”

Met with silence, Lin headed back out. She looked at the letter of acceptance in her hand, and fought the urge to crush it. Scowling now, she stomps away.

Within the month, her family was shattered, her beliefs uprooted. She had arrested her sister, challenged the Chief, and nearly lost her eye.

The wounds cut deep, marking her soul even as they marked her face.

The scars would follow her the rest of her life.

20/20 vision was a thing of the past.

From then on, her perspective was shifted by the fractured bedrock of the Beifong legacy.

It started so subtly. 

Aang had finally succeeded in making the changes to the Order of the Air Temple he and Katara had talked about for years. The new air acolyte class was allowing women for the first time in known air nation history.

Lin had helped Aang and Katara organize the barracks and develop protocols of behavior. She helped Aang review the applications, making sure that there was no fraud. Lin was proud to help her mentor bring a little equality to an ancient culture. The initiates ranged from 16 to 60.

She and Tenzin had argued about it. It wasn’t that he was sexist. You couldn’t have Katara as a mother, and Toph, Suki, and Mai as aunts, and have any belief that women were less capable than men.

It was simply that Tenzin was obsessed with the tradition and stories of the Air Nation from his father’s time. And Tenzin hated change.

Kya, Tenzin’s free-spirited sister, had joked that if that had happened before she started traveling, she might have found reason to stay. 

Bumi, Tenzin's wild-hearted brother, had joked that Lin should watch out, or some little acolyte would meditate her way into Tenzin's heart.

She had ignored both of them. She knew the siblings loved harassing her and Tenzin about their relationship, anyways.

In hind sight, maybe she should have paid more attention. Especially when it came to one overly cheerful, eagerly attentive, barely legal, air acolyte. But she didn't think Tenzin would stray. Loyalty was like air to him.

And the girl was 15 years younger than them.

But then, her vision had been clouded for a while now.

And so, the already fractured bedrock that she based her life, was rocked to the core.

Without a firm footing, she had slipped, and shifted. The anger roiled and shook, a landslide loosed by the quaking faults.

The foundation her mother had created, that Aang had shaped and Zuko had tempered, and Katara had weathered, was changed forever.

Maybe Aang could have stopped her. But, then he never could stop Toph, either.

Maybe Katara could have calmed her storm. But she was never one to shy away from the fury of the elements.

Maybe Bumi could have cajoled her out of her rage before it boiled over, but he was enjoying his brother’s comeuppance too much to try.

It was Kya who stood with her.

Who weathered the storm.

Who didn’t shy away when the earth threatened to swallow her home.

She simply let it flow, and used her bending to protect those she cared for, including Lin.

When her soul settled, there were new cliffs for the waves to crash against.

New crags for the wind to whistle through.

New fissures for the steam, smoke, and fire from the earth’s core to bubble through.

There was no blood. No wounds to leave scars. No bones laid bare.

Because Kya helped her heal while letting her rage.

And a small section of her foundation reformed, solidified even while surrounded by shifting sands.


	4. Mother of a Nation

  
Age 5

  
She had watched, mesmerized, as an island took form in the middle of the bay.

Smoke and flame and rumbling earth.

She had watched, awed, as a temple rose from the bedrock. 

  
Age 16. 

There had been rumors for a while. Rumors of the inclusion of women, bender and non-bender alike, as acolytes to the Air Temple.

She had thought about it for a long time. 

Every time the teachers asked her “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

"An Air Acolyte" That was her answer. To follow the man who balanced the world.

Always.

Their response?

Always...

Every time...

“You can’t do that. You’re a girl.” 

  
This year. This year it was happening.  
She talked with her parents, and decided. 

  
The list of items she was able to bring was shockingly small. A photo or memento of family, items for a skilled hobby or craft that engaged the mind, and an object that brought comfort or peace to the soul. 

  
That was all. 

  
Family, Focus of the mind, Peace of the soul. 

  
It turns out, that was everything she needed.

Age 19.

She still couldn’t believe he chose her.

That he had nearly destroyed a lifelong friendship.

For her. 

That the son of the two people she respected most in the world, the man whose core-deep loyalty to those he loved was rivalled only by the deep-seated drive to see the rebirth of the Air Nation.

It was worth the night in jail when his now Ex-girlfriend had tried to arrest her.

It was worth the weeks of cleaning, repairing, and replacing that followed the rampage that followed that last, terrifying conversation with the Metal-bending police captain.

It was probably even worth the gossip and backhanded accusations of being a home-wrecker.

The sideways glances. 

Because he chose her.

And the road almost not taken suddenly opened wide for her, and her path was clear.

Fifteen years.

  
How was it fifteen years since he was gone? 

  
The man who kept the balance to the world.

  
She had three children now. All three, a new hope for the Air Nation.

  
But the world was still out of balance, maybe more than anyone had ever realized.

  
She had heard her husband speaking to Chief Beifong.

The new Avatar was wild, undisciplined, brave and bold and daring. 

A prodigy, having innate skills at fire, water, and earth since she was old enough to walk. 

  
Probably a good thing she grew up in the South Pole.

  
Pema looked over her three children. She felt for the young woman’s parents.   
Three Airbenders (“The Hope of the Air Nation”) under puberty was nearly enough to drive her insane. 

  
She rubbed her just starting to show belly.

  
Maybe, maybe this one would be a nice normal non-bending child.

Like her family.


	5. At World's Change

For Kya’s first 6 years it was her and Bumi.

Going seal-penguin sliding, playing in the ice flows, having snowball wars with Uncle-Chief Sokka, chasing her brother with his own snow-people.

They lived with their mom in the south pole, their dad was often “away”.

Mom was busy being a healer for their tribe, but she always made time, and she would bring Kya in to help with treatments, teaching her the push and pull of healing and illness.

Uncle Sokka was always around, too, and made time to teach Bumi things, non-bending things. He could tie amazing knots and was really good with the Warhammer forms. He wasn’t so good at the boomerang, Uncle Sokka said he had too much of his namesake’s energy for that. Her brother Bumi wasn’t afraid of anything. He even stood up to the polar bear-dog that tried to get in their home one day.

Every now and then, She and Bumi and Uncle Sokka would have Haiku battles, which always ended in giggles when one of them messed up the pattern of syllables.

Aunt Suki would come visit a lot as well. She dressed funny, in green and gold dresses. And she always carried painted fans, even though they were in the Arctic and it was never warm.

Somedays she would have her face painted all in white with dark rings at her eyes and bright red lip coloring. Her fans would be changed to bright tipped metallic versions. Uncle Sokka would have his blue, black, and grey warrior paint on, his Warhammer and boomerang secured at his side, and a sword at his back. Those times, her mama would stay in the entrance way, two pools of her special bending water on either side of her.

Those days, her and Bumi were supposed to be extra quiet.

Bumi had been upset the last time, insisting he was a warrior, that he was older than Uncle had been during “The War”. Sokka nodded his agreement, but Mama didn’t budge. She told him that if he wanted to help, he would keep his sister safe, and stay quiet.

But those days weren’t too often.

When dad was there, it was good.

He and Uncle Sokka and Aunt Suki and mama would talk late into the dark. Sometimes they would tell stories about airships and flying lemurs and sliding down the delivery shoots in Ba Sing Se. Uncle Zuko would come by with his dragon and he and Zuko would do the “Dance of the Dragons” and end up laughing when fire blazed out of their fists at the end pose. It was fun.

Sometimes, when dad was there, they flew on Appa, though he was getting older and couldn’t carry them far. It was always a thrill to be so far above the ice and snow.

Once a year, they went to the new city her dad and uncle Zuko had made. They visited Aunt Toph, who called her dad “Twinkle Toes” for some reason, and always wanted to duel him. She was the Chief. Not a chief like Uncle Sokka, who was “Chief of the Southern Water Tribe”. Aunt Toph was Police Chief. Not that Kya really understood what that meant. She just liked watching her bend the metal cables of her uniform, it was like she made them dance through the air. It always made her giggle. That made Aunt Toph grumble, which Kya giggled at even more.

Things changed when her younger brother was born.

Their dad stayed home more.

Their mom didn’t go to the clinic as often.

She worked with Kya on the warrior poses of water-bending.

It was hard, not as smooth and flowy as the healing moves.

It was kind of fun too. Like when she and Bumi did warrior forms with Uncle Chief Sokka with the hammer and the boomerang.

But she sensed a change in her parents. Every now and then a dark shade would spread over the bright blue and orange glow that surrounded them like a brilliant sunrise. She never talked to anyone about those colors. But it seemed like no one but her could see them. She liked it though, they were usually pretty, how they would swirl and shift and glow bright when people were happy.

When her parents stopped glowing, she knew there was trouble.

Sometimes it was just a wild Polar bear-dog lingering too close to their hut.

But sometimes, when they got real dark, it got really scary. There were booms and flashes that didn’t come from the storm skies. And sometimes, the next day, the village where they lived had to rebuild a home, or the school, or the meeting hall.

Uncle “Chief” Sokka came around more, staying the night if Daddy was gone.

Aunt Suki was gone a lot. Even more than Daddy. She when she came back, she was always in her green warrior dress, with her metal fans.

Three years later her whole world changed, again.

Tenzin started air bending.

They didn’t see it the first few times. Just found him sitting on the floor outside his crib, cooing at the toy air bison in his hands.

They figured he climbed out, like Bumi used to, or slid the latch to drop the rail with water bending like Kya had done.

It was Kya who saw it first.

She had heard him fussing across the hall. She went to check on him during the night, to let her parents sleep.

She could see the cause of his distress. His favorite toy, the sky bison, had been left on the rocking chair, out of reach. She stepped into the room, intending to return the toy, when it suddenly lifted itself off the chair. Wobbling in the air, much like a baby bison in first flight, it bobbed its way over to baby Tenzin.

She stopped still.

Knowing, somehow, that this would change everything.

Knowing that the only other person in the world who could bend air was her father.

She sat down next to the crib, watching.

Baby Tenzin cooed softly, reaching for her.

The Bison toy dropped, bouncing off the rail, landing on the floor.

She reached for it. Lifted it up over the rail, pretending to make it fly.

It struck her then, at her core, the difference between them.

There was a soft sound behind her. She turned to see her older brother, Bumi.

“What is it, Sis? What’s wrong?”

She hadn’t noticed tears building in her eyes. She bent them away and smiled at her sleepy-eyed brother.

“Daddy owes mommy a trip to the spa.”

“How come?”

“Cuz she was right. He’s a bender.”

Bumi scowls a little. He had hoped, secretly, that the newest addition would be like him, and Uncle Sokka.

“How would you know? He’s just a baby.”

“He flied Ooie into his crib. I sawed him.”

“Wait, he flew it?”

“Uh huh.”

Bumi scowled, and grumbled under his breath.

“You OK, Boomtwo?”

“I just hoped he would be normal, like me and uncle Sokka.”

“Bending’s normal.”

“No, it’s not. Hardly anyone here bends water. Just the healers, and mom, and a couple of warriors.”

“I can bend, and so does uncle Zuko and aunt Toph, and mama, and daddy can bend everything.”

“They don’t count, they’re mom’s friends.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Your stupid.”

Before they can devolve into a fight, a deeper voice speaks from behind them.

“Kids. Don’t use the word stupid. And Bumi, don’t call your sister names, it’s not nice.”

“Yes, dad.” They both say at the same time, lowering their heads.

“What are you two doing up, anyhow. It’s way past your bedtimes.”

“Tenny was crying, he couldn’t reach Ooie. I didn’t want mama to wake up.”

“That’s very nice of you, Kya. But why were you arguing with your brother?”

“We weren’t arguing. He said bending wasn’t normal and I said it was.”

“Why were you talking about bending instead of going back to bed?”

Before she could answer, Ooie floated up out of the crib and wobbled over to Kya.

“Cuz Tenny was airbendeding Ooie.” She said, pointing

Aang’s jaw dropped. “Katara! Come Quick!” he shouted.

A thud sounded from her parent’s bedroom. A moment later, she saw her mom step out, face blank, her bending water flowing and whipping in the warrior forms Kya had been learning.

“What is it Aang? Are we under attack?”

“No, no, sorry, nothing like that. It’s Tenzin!”

“Is he sick? What happened? Bumi, Kya go back to sleep. Aang, bring him here. Is It a fever? The septapox is going through the tribe like wildfire.” The streams of water slowed, retreating to the flask at her side.

“He’s fine, Katara. Kya saw him first. I still can’t really believe it.”

“Aang. Saw what? What did Kya see?”

“Tenny airbended, mama. He airbended Ooie. Dad saw too!”

Katara collapsed sideways, leaning against the wall. Her eyes locked on Aang’s. “Oh. Oh my. This…I didn’t expect this. Not after Kya presented as a water bender. I’ve never heard of children with the same parents having different core bending talents.”

“Me either.” Aang replys. “Must be something to do with me being the Avatar.”

“Or maybe life is finding a way. I always said there was no reason we don’t have airbenders now. Just because the main colonies of airbenders were massacred, doesn’t mean everyone was killed. Maybe some hid with other nations, and married non-benders or benders with other skills. Maybe if an Airbender marries an earthbender, the more grounded talent overwhelms the more passive. Maybe there are airbenders out there and we just aren’t aware of it, because they’re in remote areas? Or their power is weak and without training, they never progress out of infancy.”

“We may never know.”

“This is going to change everything. Isn’t it.” That was not a question.

Kya heard her daddy sigh. He wrapped his arms around Katara.

“We’ll figure it out. We always have.”

“With the Red Lotus working in direct opposition to the White Lotus Society, Tenzin will be a target. He and any of his children will be the only chance for the fulfilment of the Avatar Cycle. We need to protect him.”

“We will. We’ll protect them all.”

“Daddy. I can help. I’ll watch Tenny. I can help keep him safe. I can! Mommy’s teaching me real good.” Kya spoke up, not really understanding what was being said, but wanting to help.

She drew water out of the glass beside her cot and started bending it into a water whip.

Aang and Katara looked down, just realizing that their older children were standing in the hallway still listening to their conversation.

“Oh, oh Kya. Thank you. But you don’t have to worry. Mommy and I and all your aunts and uncles will help us. We’ll be safe.” He pulled her into her side, and shifted the errant water into a glowing sphere before returning it to the vessel.

Katara looked at Aang. They tried not to lie to the children, even as they tried to shelter them from the darkness in the world.

“Daddy, I want to help. You and mommy were so bright and glowy when you see’d Tenny bendeding. I want you to stay bright, just like that.”

Aang looked at her, curious. “Kya…what do you…?”

Katara cut him off. “Sweet heart, go on back to bed. You to Bumi. You both did very well, looking out for your baby brother. Go on now, the new day will be here before you know it.”

Kya and Bumi turned and went back to their rooms. They didn’t want to make their mom mad.

Kya didn’t go right to sleep, though, she heard her mom and dad talking in the main room far into the night.

Not long after that night, Uncle Sokka moved to Daddy’s new city.

Daddy and Mommy said they were going, too.

She had to pack up her things, but only the most important ones. Only things that Appa could carry, or that they could send by ship.

They moved to a small house in “‘Nited City”. Appa had to stay far away, in fields in the mountains with the other “livestock”.

Kya didn’t understand what that was. Appa was her best friend. She told him all her secrets. She didn’t have anyone to talk to in this new place.

She felt like her own glow was duller, almost dirty here, somehow. She didn’t even really realize she could see her own glow, until she realized it had changed.

The people here didn’t glow in blues and whites and greens like at home, either. Or the oranges, reds and yellows that Daddy had.

The people here were dark greys and greens, and blacks, like Aunt Toph and Suki. Some were dark burning reds and deep orange, and sooty black like Uncle Zukko. A few were a scary bright blue, almost silver-white. Not the cool, soft hues she was used to, but hot and sharp and flashing.

She stayed close to her mom, not venturing out like she had done in the village.

One day, her mom took her and Bumi and Tenny to the shore. It wasn’t like the shore at home, with penquin seals, and ice berms, and crisp waves crashing white foam into spray ice against the shore.

It was dirty and oily, and smelled of the metal ships that loomed over the whole area.

They found a place that looked out into the center of the bay. Right in the center, an area where the ships always went around.

She could see daddy out there, in his bright yellow cloaks. She thought she could see Aunt Toph there too, but it was harder to see the dark greys and blacks out against the dark water.

A small figure moved up beside her. It was grey and black with just a hint of forest green spiraling through.

“Hiya, Linny.”

“Don’t call me that. My name is Lin.”

“Sorry, Lin.”

The younger girl just shrugged, looking out across the water.

“They’re going to make an island.”

“How do you make an Island?”

Lin responded by forming a small mound of rock and debris just past the water’s edge.

“You bend the world.”

As she said this, a deep rumble rose from where her dad and aunt were. The waters roiled and crashed, streaming away from the huge cliffs of bedrock that rose out of the depths.

Suddenly, Kya noticed her mom moving through forms she hadn’t seen before. It was like a combination of the push/pull of healing joined with the quick-sharp movements of the warrior forms.

Looking out at the waters, Kya shuddered. A huge wave was rushing away from the new land, racing towards the shoreline all around them. Kya stepped up next to her mom, and started mimicking her movements. She felt the enormity of the power of the water approaching them. She dug in to the stony shore and sent out even more energy, trying desperately to channel the growing energy of the mass of earth-moved water.

“Good, Kya. Just like that. Draw your energy from the earth, from the water, from the sun’s fire, and the air’s breath. Just like that. Keep going. We have to stop the wave from destroying the fleet and the fisherman’s wharf.”

Lin was suddenly beside them as well. She had dropped into a deep stance and was grunting with the effort she was putting forth. Immediately in front of them, a line of pillars rose to waist height. The line doubled, tripled, spread out along the piers and canals. Creating a breakwater Kya and her mom could direct the power of the tsunami, undermining and disrupting its flow. Giving the water benders an edge.

Suddenly, there was a great counterpull. A shifting in the base of the wave. Kya looked up and saw her dad, floating in the air above the new land. A bright white shined through him, the arrows that marked his forehead and arms blazing.

The tsunami…stopped. It froze, between the push and the pull, and then it settled back with a sound like all the waves in the world crashing at once.

Smaller waves raced away in all directions, but they quickly dissipated on the breakwater Lin had created. Her mom slowed her movements, calming the waters across the entire bay.

Kya took a deep breath and sank to the ground. Water swirled around her legs, trapped behind the breakwater.

“Lin, thank you, sweetheart. You did a great job. That was quick thinking with the pillars. You saved a lot of people, and a lot of damage.” Katara said to the young earthbender. “Kya, sweety, you were amazing as well, you saw the need and stepped in to protect, and learned a new water-bending form in seconds to boot.”

“Momma!”

Katara spun around, looking back to where the children had been sitting before the chaos started.

“Tenzin, what is it?”

“Tell BumTwo to let me go! I wanna help Daddy!”

Bumi had seen the wave approaching. He saw his mom and sister step up to the water’s edge. He was pretty sure they would be able to stop the wave, but as it kept growing and speeding toward them, he did as he had been taught. He grabbed his younger brother and his young cousin Su, and dragged them back, and up a flight of stairs in front of a nearby building. When his brother had tried to form an airscooter to go join the others, he had tied him up in a length of rope that had been left on the sidewalk. Suyin was crying, scared by the noise and lights. Bumi wrapped an arm around the small girl and held her close, while still securing Tenzin to the stair rail.

Katara grabbed Kya and Lin’s hands, and rushed to Bumi. She pulled all five children into her arms. Holding them tight.

“Bumi. Thank you. That was so smart, so brave and quick. Thank you for watching out for them, for keeping them safe.”

“Tenzin, calm down. If your father wanted you there, he would have taken you with him. Listen to your brother.”

“Yeah, Tenny, listen to your brother.” Bumi cat-called, sticking his tongue out at his little brother. It was rare that he was the good one, and his brother was getting scolded.

“Okay, enough Bumi. Untie him now. And Su, stop crying, everything is ok now.” Katara takes the still sobbing child from her son’s side, and wipes her tears. “Take a breath. There you go. Another… Good… Can you look at me? Suyin… look at me.”

Kya stood back a bit, watching her mom calm and care for her brothers and cousin.

She looked over at her cousin Lin, catching her eye. She held out a hand. “We make a good team, Lin”

The Earthbender met her gaze, and grasped her hand. “It seems like we do, Kya.”

They turned back to the bay, and watched as stones rose and shifted and formed into walls and roofs. As flat, open patios took shape, and fountains with flowing water formed.

They watched as the rebirth of a nation took it’s first shaky, unsteady steps into the world, smoothed and guided by two of the most powerful earth benders in the world. Protected and shielded by yet another of the world’s most powerful water benders.

For the first time, Kya knew she would be just as powerful.

Looking at her younger cousin, she thought the green was brighter and somehow fuller than it had been when they started today. Kya smiled, and it shone brighter when Lin returned it with a rare smile of her own.

They stood side by side, and watched the world change.


	6. Vantage Point

Lin watched the small sailing vessel grow smaller in the distance. Even after it rounded the bend of the sheltered bay, she kept watching. Kept hoping it would change course, and return to her.

She sat facing the shining sea, watching as her closest friend for the past 10 years sailed out of her life.

The young waterbender had been planning for months, studying currents and wind reports, reviewing the limited information on weather patterns in distant areas. Deciding on the style of vessel she wanted, and her gear, the emergency supplies and a few luxuries to make the journey enjoyable. She had loose goals, and had arranged caches in various ports, both in developed cities and in small fishing villages.

It wasn’t a surprise trip. They had talked about it. Each spinning out their dreams and goals. Lin and her desire to excel with the elite police squads that were forming, Kya with her desire to see the world and learn from other healer traditions and water bending styles. They both wanted to make an impact beyond what their family names brought to them. The Avatar’s waterbending middle child, and Master Metal-Bending Police Chief Beifong’s oldestdaughter.

What had thrown Lin… What had shaken her to her core… was the last conversation between herself and Kya.

She had watched Kya grow more restless, more discontent, over the past few months. She had stopped dating, avoided the typical social gatherings she used to frequent. Lin had watched this change, and waited. It went against her nature to pressure her friend to talk. She knew Kya would swirl around whatever was bothering her until she finally met a shore to crash against. Lin knew Kya would seek her out when she was ready.

She wasn’t…shocked…exactly…

When Kya finally told her. When Kya explained how she felt about herself, and who she loved. And how she had already come an understanding with her family, and she wanted the same with Lin.

As Lin was honest, with herself and with those she cared for, she thought it made sense, that hearing it helped Kya make sense to her.

She hoped Kya knew that. Knew her well enough to understand.

That when Lin had stilled and grown silent, it wasn’t in judgement. It wasn’t in disgust or abhorrence.

It was just that her foundation had shifted, settled. Her vantage point had altered and the shift disoriented her. So, she took a moment to process this new understanding. A moment to hold, and wait, and breathe.

To control how she responded, instead of simply reacting.

She reached out for her friend.

But Kya had gone.

And now, before Lin had a chance, before she had any time alone with Kya, her friend had set sail.

So, she sat, and watched from her new vantage point.

As her best friend sailed on freshening winds, into a new life.


	7. Tidal Flow

She looked back.

She swore she wouldn’t.

Forward facing into this new adventure.

She never had been able to resist the push and the pull.

The draw of the unknown, the grip and grasp of the past.

Tensioning the sails

Racing the rising sun.

Her gaze swung, refocused behind her.

A bright blue form, her mother, standing, watching her daughter sail out.

The Green flash on a new outcrop, standing witness to her journey.

Her soul settled.

Her aura blazed bright

Knowing she was accepted, loved, understood.

Knowing she was free to wander, to ride the tides and currents.

She looked forward

To a new exploit

She would always feel pulled, pushed.

A wanderlust, whispering to go, seek, learn. Recognizing there would always be

A guiding hand to call her to home, and hearth, and heart.


End file.
